Meek and arrogant, mild and unrelentingly harsh, merciful and cruelMoses is one of the most difficult characters in the Bible. But Jonathan Kirsch, in this readable and well-researched account of Moses the lawgiver, does not shy away from those contradictions; instead, he emphasizes them. In so doing, Kirsch, a book columnist for the Los Angeles Times and also a lawyer, has made accessible one of the great figures of the Bible.